I look down and see Tyler there, picking up the mess and putting it in a plastic grocery sack.
"He's cleaning it up."
"Who?" Grams rushes to the window. "That boy?"
"You should really call him by his name." I lift up the window and yell down, "Thanks!"
He smiles up at me. "Sorry, I was gonna clean this up last night and forgot."
I love his smile. And his eyes. And his body. He's not wearing his work clothes today. He has on dark jeans that aren't ripped or faded, and a light blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up. He looks nice, like he's going out. I'm about to ask him where he's going but Grams stops me by shutting the window.
"Ladies don't shout out windows," she scolds, "especially while barely dressed." She motions to my tank top and boxers. "Get dressed, and if you feel the need to talk to the boy, go do so in person. I'm going to go make us some breakfast." She walks off.
I look back out the window but Tyler is gone.
After a quick shower I meet Grams in the kitchen, which is a mess because we're getting ready to paint. The cabinet doors are off and their contents are scattered around in boxes that are on the floor. I know the mess is stressing out Grams, which is why we need to hurry and get this done.
"Are we getting the paint after we eat?" I ask, taking a bite of the scrambled eggs she made me.
"Yes, and I need to get some paint cloths to put down."
She gets up to refill her coffee as the doorbell rings. "Who could that be?"
"I don't know." I scoot my chair out as the door rings again. "I'll get it."
"Let me. I'm already up. You finish breakfast so we can go."
She leaves to answer the door. Moments later I hear a man's voice in the other room. Curious, I get up and go to the living room. Walter is there with Tyler. He notices me behind Grams and gives me a slight smile.
"What are you two doing here?" I ask, smiling as I stand beside Grams.
"They've invited us for dinner," Grams says.
"Tonight?"
"Tomorrow," Walter says, "but we haven't received an answer yet."
"We'd love to have dinner with you," I say. "Wouldn't we, Grams?"
"I suppose we could make it," she says reluctantly.
"What can we bring?" I ask.
"Just your beautiful smiles," Walter says, looking at Grams. She looks away.
"Those are gorgeous," I say, pointing to the flowers Grams is holding.
"They're from Walter's gardens," Grams explains, then she says to Walter, "I suppose you had to pick them. The garden's becoming quite overgrown."
"I didn't have to," he says. "I wanted to."
"Still, the garden could certainly use some weeding."
Sensing Grams is about to start lecturing Walter, I intervene. "Thank you for the invite. We're looking forward to it." I glance at Tyler. "So what are you two up to today?"
Neither of them answer, then Tyler blurts out, "We're just running some errands.
"So are we. Grams and I are going into town to get some paint. We're going to paint the cabinets today."
"If you need painting tips, ask Tyler," Walter says. "He painted houses for awhile after high school."
"You did?" I ask.
"Just for a year."
"Maybe you could stop over later. See if we're doing it right."
"I would, but we won't be home until tonight."
Tonight? How could it take that long to run errands?
"Do you want to see what we're doing?" I ask Tyler.
"Faith, we need to get going," Grams says.
"It'll only take a minute." I head to the kitchen with Tyler. When we get there I say, "Grams found your trail mix."
"Trail mix?"
"The peanuts, raisins, and marshmallows."
"Shit. What'd you tell her?"
"The truth. I told her you wanted to talk and didn't want to wake her up."
"I bet she was pissed."
"She was, but only because she thought you had bad intentions. I told her you're not even interested in me that way so?? I look down, wishing I hadn't said that. I wish he was interested in me that way but he's not so I shouldn't have brought it up. I look up and see him staring at me.
He quickly looks away and motions to the cabinets. "So you're painting these?"
"Yeah. We're going with a farmhouse white. It's like an off-white color. I think it'll brighten up the place. I'm going to pick out new hardware too."
"You should replace the sink. Do one of those white cast iron farmhouse sinks."